Winnipeg Jets prospect Danny Zhilkin finding his stride in third season with the Moose

Jets prospect Danny Zhilkin came into this season knowing something had to change. Just 21 games into the 2025-26 campaign, the 21-year-old centre looks like a different player. He has nearly matched last season’s production in far fewer games, and his confidence seems to grow with every touch.

It’s been a long road since draft day in Montreal, where he was selected 77th overall in 2022.

“I kind of blacked out when my name got called,” he admitted later. “I just remember hugging my mom and then it’s blank until about 30 minutes after.”

After the draft, he went back to the OHL — first with Guelph, then Kitchener — before signing his entry-level deal with Winnipeg that December. He closed out his junior career with a solid 56-point season, but the jump to the AHL wasn’t smooth. Zhilkin posted seven points as a rookie but had his season cut short due to injury which required surgery and followed it with 10 points last year on a Moose team that struggled from start to finish and where a knee injury in early November cost him almost two months of time.

Off the ice Zhilkin has also been a champion for mental health, founding Zhilkin’s Vision with his girlfriend Lauren Shoss to destigmatize mental health perceptions. Shoss said it was born out of their own lived experiences.

“There is a constant pressure to perform, to prove yourself, to be perfect and do everything right so as to not jeopardize your spot or others’ perceptions of you. It’s a constant uphill battle,” said Shoss on her and Zhilkin’s effort to help others.

Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)

On the ice there was a turning point: September’s Prospect Showcase in Montreal.

In front of a packed Bell Centre, Zhilkin scored twice against Canadiens prospects, including a last-minute game-winner. He followed that with a two-assist game against Ottawa which included the primary assist on the game-winning goal. Suddenly, the player Winnipeg drafted — fast, direct, assertive — was showing up in full.

“It was unbelievable, I think every kid dreams of this opportunity and to not only play in the NHL preseason but to have that rookie camp at play in front of a sold-out Bell Centre was pretty unbelievable experience,” said Zhilkin on his preseason.

So far, he’s delivered. Zhilkin opened the season with a two-point night against Laval and has added game-winners, special-teams goals, and reliable defensive play. His growth without the puck has been just as noticeable as what he’s doing with it.

“He’s been excellent,” said Moose head coach Mark Morrison. “He’s solidified himself as a No. 1 centre in the American Hockey League.”

Morrison has paired him with Colby Barlow and Jaret Anderson-Dolan — and the chemistry has been immediate.

“You see with Danny he’s obviously put in so much work in the summer, you can see he came to camp ready to play and its showing in the regular season,” Anderson-Dolan said. “I love playing with both of them. We all suit each other’s games well.”

Zhilkin’s stats are modest — nine points in 21 games — but the underlying improvement is unmistakable. He’s on pace to triple last year’s total, and he’s made an impact beyond the scoresheet, including a shootout winner last game against Chicago.

Assistant coach Morgan Klimchuk sees a player rounding into form.

“He’s looking confident with the puck, he’s very engaged physically, he’s going to hard areas with the puck, without the puck. His open-ice speed and his ability to make plays are evident for sure, but the growth he’s shown — playing tough matchups, taking key faceoffs, being sound defensively, and all those things that maybe don’t get noticed as much on the scoresheet — are really contributing to the offensive success he’s having, because it usually starts without the puck.”

The Moose face the Wolves again tonight as they look to build some distance in the standings — and Zhilkin, suddenly one of their most important players, figures to be right in the middle of it.

If Zhilkin keeps this momentum going, his continued growth could put him on the doorstep of his first NHL game with the Jets.